


Kizuna

by Mikaze_san



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Gen, why do i like making the robot cry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-20
Updated: 2018-12-20
Packaged: 2019-09-23 04:19:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17073341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mikaze_san/pseuds/Mikaze_san
Summary: After their final performance, the members of what was formerly known as Quartet Night reminisce over their shared memories and bonds as a group.





	Kizuna

**Author's Note:**

> Heavily inspired by the end of Quartet Night Live Evolution when they were all mostly crying after the encore. I'm still pretty new to writing so any feedback is appreciated.

As the stage door came to a slow close the four of them stood there with arms wrapped around each other, heads touching as they leaned on one another for support.

The faint cheering from thousands of fans was blocked out over the heaving breathing exhaled from the four band members as they stood in the darkness. That was it. Their final performance as a group had come to an end. After all those years of the four idols could not comprehend that Quartet Night was finally disbanding. In all honesty, none of them would have ever thought they’d stay together for as long as they did. Personality wise they were the worse possible combination, but when it came to singing they were able to put their differences aside.

What began as pointless bickering at the start slowly evolved into a strong bond between the idols. Brushing the thought out of his mind, Reiji trembled biting down on his lip to prevent the tears that were itching to pour down his face.

Instead, he choose to focus on his breathing and began to take deep breaths in a poor attempt to calm himself down. Being the one that held them together for so long, the brunette wasn’t fully prepared to face the reality of the situation.

To his right, Ranmaru balled his hands into fists and kept his eyes glued to the floor. He couldn’t bare see the heartbroken expressions on his band members faces knowing it would be more than enough to break his cold-hearted demeanour. Even though he was at his most vulnerable, the silver-haired man stubbornly refused to let his emotions overwhelm him. He doesn’t cry. He. Does. Not. Cry… Fuck, was someone cutting onions backstage?

Despite Camus’ usually calm nature he had given it his all throughout their final performance both feeling emotionally and physically drained.

Typically once he was out of sight from the public, his chivalrous persona would drop and the Count would instead adopt his more cruel nature towards the group however it seemed that neither of those characteristics were present.

His chest tightened along with his grip on the group hug now that his walls were finally down. As much as he regretted to admit it, Quartet Night had really grown on him and he too was devastated in that moment just as much as the others.

Lastly, Ai felt a burning sensation inside of him. Nothing like his past experiences with overheating, no. This was different. He couldn’t put it into words but this was the first time he had experienced pain of this sort.

Up until now, the youngest member had shown no signs of heartache, but before he knew it, the cyanette felt a warm wet substance fall down his cheeks and soon enough his body began to shake uncontrollably in the arms of the 3 people that he loved. Noticing their friend begin to cry the other 3 gazed down at him in utter shock, purely because this was the first time Ai had ever shown intense emotion. While it was a touching moment, one by one the tears were also followed firstly by Reiji… then Camus… and finally Ranmaru.

 

* * *

 

Later that night the four of them decided to head back to the apartment, all too drained to even think of celebrating. Once entering the apartment, silence followed as they each broke off into their respective rooms for the last time. Sounds of flickering lights soon faded and the apartment was consumed in darkness.

In his bed, Ranmaru tossed and turned failing to fall asleep. A feeling of dread lingered within him as he tried his best to block out the thought of having to say his real goodbyes in the morning.

Moments passed before he let out a small groan rolling onto his back and staring up at the ceiling with wide eyes. His jaw clenched in annoyance knowing that he would not be able to sleep tonight. With a heavy heart, the rocker pulled off his blanket, sitting up on the bed as he ran a hand through his hair. Perhaps a midnight snack would help him get through the night, he convinced himself opening up his room door.

Stepping into the main room, Ranmaru’s heart dropped as his eyes met the emptiness of the apartment, he gazed over the dented marks in the carpet where various pieces of furniture once stood and over the subtle markings on the walls where several posters and photo frames used to hang.

All that remained of the interior was the inbuilt kitchen counter, and some basic utensils, along with the fridge. Several labeled boxes were shoved to corners of the room containing belongings of each member reminding him that today had in fact been real.

Immediately, he made his way to the kitchen not even attempting to be sneaky in ignorance of his sleeping bandmates.

In just a few hours the place would be completely empty. Shaking the thought out of his mind, he poured himself a glass of milk.

As he took a large sip from the glass, the silver-haired idol spotted something, or rather someone out of the corner of his eye. Realising he wasn’t alone in the room, Ranmaru almost choked as he spotted Camus leaning against the doorframe with arms crossed over his chest. Taking a short moment to recover he wiped his mouth onto this sleeve giving the Count a glare. “Thought you’d be getting some shut-eye sleeping beauty” he growled clearly agitated by the sudden shock.

“I thought we were past those kinds of trivial insults Kurosaki. Besides I could say the same to you” Camus responded flatly with showing no clear intention of apologising.

The taller male was a slightly taken back by the casual appearance of his associate seeing that his hair had long lost its fierce spikes and his single magenta eye contact had been removed revealing his bright silver eyes that glistened in the moonlight.

“Old habits die hard” He dead-panned, chugging the rest of the milk before lazily dumping the glass into the sink. Camus merely raised an eyebrow at the action but made no comment.

“Couldn’t sleep either?” The rocker observed moving from the kitchen to take a seat onto one of the couches before kicking his feet up onto the coffee table. “Not with you making so much noise at this hour,” he remarked though it was an obvious lie.

Camus would have been surprised if the other two were asleep at this very moment for the same reasons as himself and Ranmaru. “But I do admit I was already having a rather… difficult night” he added truthfully clearly still feeling unease.

Shifting his weight away from the doorframe, Camus took a seat on the couch opposite to the rocker choosing sit in an upright position contrasting his bandmates slouched and unflattering pose. The two of them continued to talk about pointless topics to keep themselves entertained as sleep was not an option anymore.

Surprisingly enough, there was no tension between the two as the night went on both unconsciously valuing each others company.

They made not have been able to call each other friends but after practically being forced to work together in a group and sharing a living space, the two had come to some sort of unspoken agreement to tolerate each other.

It wasn't long before the door to Reiji’s room opened and he stepped out to join them also showing signs of little to no sleep indicated by the dark circles under his eyes.

Slumping into the space near Camus, the brunette was clearly not in his energetic state of mind. Despite this, the three made quiet conversation intentionally keeping their voices to a minimum, however, the noise unfortunately still managed to echo through into the fourth member's room.

Just like the others, Ai hadn’t managed to get a wink of sleep that night. Despite his earlier exhaustion thoughts of disbanding consumed his mind preventing the idol from drifting into slumber. Prior to his debut, the cyanette had not known what it meant to have friends, to have a home… to love. The others had lives before Quartet Night so it was easier for them to move on, at least that was his interpretation. Eager to spend as much time with them as he could, Ai got up from the bed walking towards the door before gently pushing it open.

Upon hearing the click of a door, the three idols all turned their heads towards their friend who looked more drained than all 3 of them combined.

His eyes were still slightly red as the poor android hadn’t stopped crying the whole way back to the apartment after the live. The others did their best to comfort him but he only stopped when he had finally tired himself out.

Ai paused briefly allowing his eyes to adjust to the lighting before he greeted them with a small nod and proceeding to take a seat next to Ranmaru on the couch. “You okay Ai-Ai?” Reiji inquired with a gentle tone.

The cyanette looked up to meet the concerned gaze of his friends giving a gentle nod in response. It wasn’t completely a lie but he was definitely doing better than earlier.

Ranmaru rested a comforting hand on his shoulder meeting his gaze as he did so. Judging by the anguished look in his eyes, the silver-haired idol could tell that he wasn’t telling them the truth.

“I must admit I did not expect you to take us disbanding this hard Mikaze…” Camus spoke up earning sharp glare from Ranmaru as a result of the pure bluntness in his voice. However, this went unnoticed by Ai who didn’t seem bothered at all by his comment. Rather than reacting negatively like they’d anticipated the android simply shrugged fiddling with the hem off his hoodie.

“I did not anticipate it either” the youngest member spoke.

“Do you want to talk about it?” Reiji asked, concern evident in his tone. Ai fell silent for a brief moment debating whether or not to take up the brunettes offer. The oldest of the group was about to open his mouth again but was cut off, “I’m scared” he blurted, unintentionally.

Conscious of the three pairs of eyes now on him, Ai kept his gaze on this jacket as he began explaining the rest.

“This is the only real home I’ve ever had. The dorms back at the Master Course, kept us too close to work to distinguish it from anything else. I suppose I wasn’t… I am not prepared to say goodbye to all of this.” He whispered solemnly.

“I never took you for the dramatic type.” Ai’s head perked up in surprise as his eyes locked with Ranmaru raising a questioning brow as he waited for the rocker to elaborate.

“You’re acting like everything’s just going to suddenly disappear.” He added, not letting his gaze falter for a second.

“Ran-Ran’s right! Just because we are no longer a group doesn’t mean this is the end. We’re all friends are we not?” Reiji beamed. Unfortunately, his smile was short-lived as he earned two glares from Ranmaru and Camus causing the brunette to sink further into the couch letting out a nervous chuckle.

“Okay, okay, so maybe not all of us but there’s no denying we have a strong bond” He reasoned raising both hands in the air defencelessly.

The silence that followed could only be interpreted as a yes for the oldest member.

Clearing his throat Reiji continued. “You’ll find your own path Ai. You’re one of the most headstrong and independent people I know, even if you’re still a child.” He joked trying to lighten the mood, “But finding your own way doesn’t mean that we’ll lose connections. We’ll always be there for each other.” He reassured him with a smile.

Ai fought back more tears refusing to shed for the umpteenth time since the live. “Thank you guys” he answered sincerely.

They sure as hell weren’t perfect but Ai was grateful to have them in his life. After all, it was their bonds that kept them together for this long.

‘Kizuna’. Reiji smiled as he reminisced over their memories together as a group. They may have had a rough start but ever since they had written that song, their team dynamic had changed for the better. The brunette contently began humming, catching the attention of the other three.

Before they all knew it, murmured notes turned into loud singing as the four of them recited the lyrics in harmony to the familiar melody.

 

_“Blown by the wind and driven by our dreams_  
_We just stand back to back every day, believing that’s the answer_  
_Piling up our songs and voices on this trackless road, together our bonds light up_  
_We may not always agree but we support each other”_

 

As the last note faded out a brief silence passed before the four of them burst out into a small chuckle instantly lightening the mood. It was times like these that they would miss the most.

One by one their gazes slowly shifted towards the window catching a glimpse of the sun beginning to rise. The amber glow emitting from the tall silhouettes of the buildings surrounding the apartment displayed a breath-taking view.

What had initially felt like the end of their journeys now held hope and ambition for a new chapter in their lives. Just because there was no more Quartet Night does not mean the bonds they had made would cease to exist. With that thought in mind, a smile spread upon the four of them as the sunlight began to fill the apartment each of them ready to face the new day. A new beginning with endless possibilities.

**Author's Note:**

> I got the lyric translations for the song from here:  
> https://llamalikesarah.wordpress.com/2017/01/02/utapri-kizuna-by-quartet-night/


End file.
